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Dracula's Castle
' Dracula's Castle' is a classic dark ride with a slow moving vehicle, creepy music, and gags that pop out at you in certain areas. The ride takes visitors through the many areas of Dracula's home. Watch out for some of the inhabitants, they like to scare people who are exploring the hallways. The ride was built in 1974 by legendary dark ride designer Bill Tracy. It is one of the final rides that he build before his death. It is one of only eight remaining Bill Tracy attractions (Terroride is also one of the eight). it was Manufactured By: Amusement Display Associates, Rooms The ride travels through the following rooms (listed in order): * Main Hallway (Picture Hallway) * Whale Bones * Dr. Frankenstein's Lab * Headless Horseman * Dungeon Room * Mine Shaft * Cavern * Skull Pond * Mausoleum * Tunnel * Grass Shaft (Grumpy Gargoyle) Notable inhabitants Dracula & Morgana The Dracula figurine standing in the East tower outside of the ride is the actual Dracula animatronic that used to be located in the Dungeon Room. Dracula used to be the focus of the ride (hence the name). When a car entered his room, he would call to Morgana. Morgana's head would appear inside of the crystal ball sitting next to him, and they would have an exchange about the people in the car. The dialog went like this: Dracula: "Ah, ah, vistors. Morgana, come!" Morgana: "Drop dead." Dracula: "Fresh blood. I want them." Morgana: "They shall not escape!" The Morgana part of the gag was a recorded video that played in the crystal ball. When she would exclaim that the riders would not escape, she would look right at the riders adding to the effect. Owl An owl with a bad sense of humor stands at the entrance watching people waiting in line. As you wait he tells you a bit about the ride and then offers bad jokes to keep guests entertained. Sparky The name of the guy in the electric chair is Sparky. He has a full audio track featuring many different phrases, including "Hey baby, wanna sit on my lap?" Gargoyle One of the gargoyles at the end of the ride used to be a part of a Frightmares haunted house known as the Labyrinth. History When Dracula’s Castle opened in 1974, it was the third haunted attraction that had been added to Lagoon within an eight-year period (following the Haunted Shack and Terroride). It occupies a portion of the Patio Gardens building which was one of Utah’s top venues for world-renown and local performers from 1954 until about 1970. The rest of the building had been transformed into the Penny Arcade by 1974. In its opening season, Dracula’s Castle was advertised to “scare the yell out of you” and was the third most popular ride. Just like Terroride, many changes have been made to the ride since its opening. This first room occurred after going down the entrance hall and the hall after the first right turn. The second room was a green striped small room. The strobes made you feel that the wall was approaching and distorted your perception. The third strobe room was kinda similar but the effects were not as good. It was a room covered with aluminum foil. It had a little dip that was cool.” Many assume that the rotating tunnel no longer spins because it broke down and just hasn’t been fixed. But from what has been submitted to me, it sounds like it was turned off for a couple possible reasons. One being that it just made too many people sick and another being the safety of riders (if the cars happened to stop and they tried to get out of the vehicle and walk out without an employee’s assistance). It’s possible that the Philadelphia Toboggan Company built this tunnel along with similar ones in other dark rides, but I’m still looking for more details on that. In 2007, Terroride and Dracula’s Castle both received new scenes and features. The additions to Dracula’s Castle included the animatronic Headless Horseman and a large gargoyle among other things. The owl perched above the loading area got an updated recording in 2010. Dracula used to be found in the room after the Headless Horseman, but that figure now stands in one of the towers outside, replacing a smaller Dracula which had been there previously. Dracula’s Castle was given the Hollywood treatment in 1987 when scenes for an episode of the short-lived TV series Werewolf were filmed at Lagoon. Some scenes were shot at the Roller Coaster station and other spots on the South Midway, but the climax was filmed at Dracula’s Castle. The episode aired on Fox in March of 1988. Gallery draculas-castle-logo.jpg|Logo Medusa at Dracula's Castle.jpg Owl.jpg Category:Rides Category:Family Rides